5 ways to sharpen your networking skills

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December 29, 2017

How your business has grown over the years may be a direct result of the networking you’ve done. Getting involved in the Rotary Club, chamber of commerce, local sports teams or dozens of other activities can be a great resource for your business. Simply knowing a lot of folks from the various activities you participate in allows you to make new contacts and meet people who may one day need your services.

Illustration: ©istock.com/TasnaiArt

Networking is a great way to get others to help you pre-sell business on your behalf. We all need cheerleaders who will be pulling for us, so let’s look at five ways to get others to sell for you:

1. Build a relationship.

If you send customers birthday cards or offer praise when their children win sporting events, for example, in the future customers will remember your kindness and appreciate the time and effort you took to acknowledge them.

2. Reward customers for referrals.

I give out $25 Starbucks, Cracker Barrel or McDonald’s gift cards to any current customer who sends us a new customer.

3. Ask for testimonials.

A personal recommendation or endorsement from one of your customers is very convincing to a prospective client in need of pest management. What you say about yourself is not nearly as impressive as what someone else says about you. When we send customers our “Report Card” to find out how our service visit was performed, we get back a fair amount of feedback. We use these as testimonials on JohnsonPestControl.com — which currently features 200 and counting.

4. Actually get the testimonials.

The key to physically receiving testimonials is to make them easy to complete. We ask just three questions in our “Report Card” survey, and we use an email subject line that says, “Three questions for you.” If customers know it will only take about a minute to give feedback, then they will give it.

5. Take your testimonials to the next level.

If you can convince a customer to spare a few seconds, look directly at your smartphone camera, and spout off about the great service you provided, you’re on the right track. It’s not that hard — folks like to see themselves on TV or in a YouTube video posted on your website. If you have a smartphone in your pocket, you are walking around with everything you need to create a quick video testimonial. When I see my customers — even if it’s just at the grocery store — most of the time they are bragging about the technicians they love to see at each service visit. Our customers really care about their technicians, and they want to tell others that Kevin and Tony are good at controlling pests at their homes.

If you try these five networking methods, you will be surprised by the response you get. Keep networking as part of your business strategy every day.

You can reach Johnson, a past president of the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), president of Sevierville, Tenn.-based Johnson Pest Control, and founder of ACES for Business at ray@johnsonpestcontrol.com.

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